crystal and linen
by ekocolabrand
Summary: kazuyaxkaiji, a late-night restaurant excursion


It was two in the morning and Kaiji was capital b Bored. So terribly bored he wanted to jump out the 8th story window he was blankly staring out. He'd tried watching T.V., remote in hand, eyes narrowed. Rapidly flipping through the channels only to find nothing was on. The books Kazuya had on hand were either nearly illegibly hard or too creepy for his tastes. He'd stopped looking when he accidentally found a book on medieval torture methods which he sincerely hoped was for one of his classes. That left human interaction.

"Kazuyaaaa....."

"Oh? Finally got tired of pouting in a corner?" He grinned, closing his textbook and patting the couch next to himself. Kaiji glared, leaning against the back of the couch instead. "Wanna make out?" Taken aback, Kaiji bit his lip and tried to maintain his composure. Was he even Japanese? He was so forward sometimes...Kaiji'd never once even seen his parents kiss let alone imagined the day when a strange man would be so nonchalantly asking for his lips. Kaiji just couldn't keep up with Kazuya's fast pace.

"................... N...no, that's not what I was going to ask... I'm just bored and---"

"Wanna play poker?"

"..... that'd end with you cutting off my limbs or something."

"Wanna play strip poker?"

".......Why would I want to play strip poker with you??"

"I dunno, I thought you liked my body?" A toothy grin followed by an unbuttoning of his shirt. Kaiji looked to the side.

"Uno?" Kaiji thought about it for a minute. He'd always liked Uno... However, he didn't know if he could deal with whatever perverse version Kazuya'd cook up.

"No" Kazuya's grin got even wider. Kaiji knew what he was about to say before he even opened his mouth. How lame can you get? Seriously.

"Str---" Before he could say the rest of his sentence, Kaiji cut him off with a light punch.

"Who the hell plays strip Uno?" He snipped. "Why don't we go out to eat somewhere?"

"It's two in the morning,"

"You've got connections, don't you? Do something about it."

And that was how Kaiji found himself sitting on what appeared to be a hand carved mahogany chair with Beef Carppaccio on a plate in front of him. The city glittered around them from floor to ceiling windows in the low honeyed light of the restaurant. Kaiji was sure this was at least a four star restaurant, something he'd seen on some food show at some point in his life. They were of course the only ones there, Kazuya having specifically had the restaurant opened for the occasion. The waiters were doting upon them, occasionally staring in confusion at the mulleted, scruffy looking customer. A very hefty tip awaited so no one was complaining. He was also fairly sure anyone who complained would be dragged out back and shot.

" _Château Latour Pauillac 1990,"_ He swished the wine around in his glass, sniffed it and raised his eyebrows. "A good year."

".....I have NO fucking clue what you're talking about," Kaiji liked his liquor cheap and plentiful. He was confused enough by which fork he should be using let alone what long complex title the wine he was drinking had. All he knew was that it tasted very good and was gradually blurring his distaste for the other man. It wasn't like he hated him or anything... well, he did, but he hated him in a way that slid back and forth depending on the date and time. Right now he was fairly in love with him. The way to a man's heart truly is through his stomach. The beef literally melted in his mouth, he was doing all he could not to weep from the delicate, delicious flavors. Kazuya paid for the meal on his tab and handed them a blank check.

"Write in whatever you want 3" He said, waving to them.

The road at night was strangely nostalgic. Painfully, he recalled walking this very route home with Sahara many, many times back when he worked at the convenience store. The occasional cicada and cricket broke the silence along with their light footfalls. The stars were breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hey, Kazuya... Did you always used to eat like this before you went to college?"

"Yeah, every day." After a few moments of mental math, Kaiji made a face. His meal alone had to have cost around 10,000 yen at least. Not even counting the wines and other niceties Kazuya'd gone ahead and ordered.

"Just how damn rich ARE you?! So why do you always eat instant ramen and stuff at our house?" Kazuya's smile returned at the 'our'.

"It tastes good..." He seemed almost embarrassed.

"Next time let's go to that ramen place next to my old apartment, I'll treat you," He said without thinking. Something lame-but-cool you'd say to your girlfriend with a grin on your face and confidence in your voice and a big thumbs-up. And he'd gone and said it to a sexually abusive sadist who had kidnapped him. ....that and he didn't actually have any money. He squinted his eyes closed and mentally kicked himself over and over and over. Kazuya laughed surprisingly genially, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"You and I both know you don't have any money, I'll treat you though... I'd love to see where my poor little Kaiji-san used to eat his dinners," He chose to ignore this.

"They have this really good smoked salmon... " He said more to the air than to Kazuya. It was nice to be outside, he thought. The air tasted so fresh and clean. It had an almost lemon-like zest to it. He looked reminiscently at his old apartment building. "That's where I used to live," He said. Kazuya put an arm around his waist, grabbing him close. For comfort, Kaiji slide his own arm around Kazuya's back, knowing the brat wouldn't let go of him for a while.

"You've moved up in the world," A statement riddled with flawed logic but true enough. He was just a bird in a gilded cage as far as he was concerned. He pulled Kazuya down onto a bench. "What?"

"Shut up, just listen." The noise of trains in the distance, whistle-like lonely noises. Crickets. Rustling grass. The movements of the clouds. "If I liked you, I'd kiss you now." He said almost inaudibly.

"Don't let that stop you,"


End file.
